The College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University will host its second annual fall convocation ceremony this week. The event’s keynote speaker will be SU alumnus David Houle ‘69, a 20-year media industry veteran, and — more recently — a futurist thinker.

The convocation will take place on Sept. 26 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Goldstein Auditorium. The event will include a speech by VPA Dean Michael Tick, a performance by the Setnor School of Music’s Jazz Ensemble and the work of Boryana Rossa, an assistant professor in the department of transmedia. Students from the School of Design will have their work on display as well.

In his first year as dean two years ago, Tick held a listening tour with students and found they wanted a fall convocation for the school, he said in an email. This year, Tick is excited with the VPA convocation committee’s keynote selection for the second annual event.

Houle, who graduated from SU with a degree in art history, found himself working in the advertising industry after college. In 1976, Houle said he got a job at NBC working with on-air ads.

“I kind of came into [the media field] because I was an extrovert,” Houle said. “I had always been a high consumer of media.”

After working at NBC for two years, Houle was hired by CBS to manage their ad sales. With the two experiences, Houle said he learned a lot about marketing and sales.

“I think anybody that has worked in the time sales business will definitely agree … [it] is the best education one could ever get in business in selling and marketing,” Houle said. “I just loved it.”

In 1980, Houle said he decided to leave CBS for cable. He left the network to join the team creating the music channel — now known as MTV.

While at MTV, Houle managed sales for the network, and soon after was managing ads for CNN Headline News, the first 24-hour cable news channel at the time. He also helped to launch the Nickelodeon channel and VH1 while working with MTV.

Looking back on his decision to leave CBS, Houle said he’s able to trace back to how he became a ‘futurist’ — somebody who makes predictions about the future based on current trends.

“People said ‘24 hours news, nobody is ever going to watch that,’ ‘a whole network for kids, no one is ever going to watch that,’” Houle said. “I describe [myself as] being a futurist because I did things that people said wouldn’t work.”

Today, Houle speaks, writes and advises on the future of digital media, among other things. He’s written numerous books and works as a guest lecturer at the Ringling College of Art and Design, where he focuses on the evolution of digital media design.

Houle was chosen as the keynote speaker for the fall event because of his extensive knowledge and experience in the media field, Joanna Spitzner, an associate professor of time arts and a member of the VPA convocation committee, said in an email. Spitzner said Houle can bring insight to students in the creative field.

“The conversation about what is in the near future is important everyone, of course. But for designers, artists, innovators and creative people, being in touch with current cultural and societal trends is key,” Spitzner said.

Houle’s speech, “Shift Transformation,” will focus on the monumental changes that will happen in the next 20 years in digital media. Houle said he hopes students will leave his speech feeling confident with their skills and empowered for the future.

“The takeaway is [to] develop your self-worth and get a sense of who you are and what your skills are, and not lock them into a path,” Houle said. “Be self-reliant and responsible … to learn and unlearn.”

Published on September 23, 2018 at 8:29 pm